The Illusion of Control: A Game We Play With Ourselves
This is my first foray into an entry in a blog. As a therapist, I do not, as a matter of practice, discuss my life or myself. However, as a member of this awesome group of women, I will attempt to make a relevant contribution. I have been thinking a lot recently about the idea…
July Health Pearls
July Health Pearls: 1. Babies Conceived in Spring More Likely to be Born Prematurely: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Study was conducted by Princeton University researchers, showing a 10% higher risk for premature births in these babies. This was thought that by early winter, at the peak of the flu season, mothers of…
Nutrition and the Brain Part 2 – Sleep and Vegetables!
Much of the conference I attended last weekend, titled Nutrition and the Brain, was about Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). There are genetic factors for AD which we’re handed at birth, like it or not, and environmental factors, which we can control. The latter include exercise, sleep and nutrition. We covered exercise in detail in Part One, so…
Kale the Powerhouse Vegetable
In the Health and Sciences section of the Washington Post this week, I read a brief article about the benefits of kale. Last year, Anderson Cooper from CNN admitted that he had never had kale before and had to taste a kale leaf in front of an audience. It was entertaining to see Mr Cooper…
Sleep For Success! Everything You Must Know About Sleep but Are too Tired to Ask
Sleep For Success: Everything You Must Know About Sleep but Are Too Tired to Ask By Dr. James Maas and Rebecca Robbins Published by AuthorHouse, 2011 Are you exhausted? Often have difficulty staying awake? Then this book may be a great first step to a good night’s rest. Dr. Maas is a distinguished Professor of Psychology at Cornell…
Exercise, Nutrition and the Brain
This weekend, I attended a conference in DC that I’ve been looking forward to for months – Nutrition and the Brain. While most medical conferences have some ‘exciting’ aspects when new research is revealed, here almost every speaker discussed something that can personally affect all our readers and patients. The talks covered many aspects of dementia…
The Low Down on Cool Down
As part of the warm up period, it’s a good idea to stretch. Generally, before exercise, “dynamic” stretching is better and afterwards, “static” stretching is preferred. Dynamic stretching involves warming up the muscles with gentle, gradual moves, without a prolonged hold. If you try to maximally stretch a ‘cold’ muscle, you’re more likely to induce a tear. Just as…
Education While on Vacation?
Early morning a week ago, while David was on a flight to Australia for his healthcare consulting work, I drove my son Sandy to the Franklin and Marshall campus or F&M in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He will be attending a three-week course at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) camp. Sandy will study chemistry…
Car driving is no ‘sitting in the pool’
Driving can be part of our lives, either trucking kids in the afternoon to all their lessons, driving to and from work in traffic or driving from one office to another. The third is my situation and there are some days, although uncommonly, I can be in the car 3-4 hours, driving to different hospitals….
No Pain, NO PAIN!
In the past, there was a common saying, “No pain, no gain,” to encourage people to exercise harder and longer. I don’t hear that expression much any more. Either I’m hanging around with wiser people, or all those, “no pain, no gain” believers have been injured and changed their tune. Whether you are stretching, lifting…